27-05-2025
'It's hard': Amanda Keller gets emotional on-air while reflecting on 35 year marriage with husband Harley Oliver amid his ongoing battle with Parkinson's
Australian media personality Amanda Keller has broken down live on-air while celebrating 35 years of marriage to her ailing husband, Harley Oliver.
The 63-year-old co-host of Gold 101.7 FM's breakfast show joined Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones on Tuesday morning and was almost immediately overcome with emotion.
"Good morning, everybody, it's the 27th of May," Jonesy began, before Amanda echoed: "27th of May," clearing her throat.
"Oh, I don't want to get emotional," she said, her voice cracking.
"It's my wedding anniversary today.
"And in the old days, Harley and I would have been going out to dinner tonight. But he's not well enough to do that."
Trying to steady herself, Keller asked her longtime co-host how long he's been married.
"Ah, 33 years," he replied.
"When you stand there on your wedding day and you say forever, what does that even mean?" Amanda reflected.
"And when you say the words, 'for better or worse', you know, what do they mean when you're in your 20s?"
Jonesy gently added, "And in sickness and in health."
The veteran journalist and comedian went on to describe the shifting nature of long-term love.
"I don't think you can get to 35 years without the sands shifting between you beneath your feet," she admitted.
"If you're living life, you don't get to cherry-pick life. You engage with it as you find it.
"And Harley's very stoic, but it's hard."
Keller first revealed Harley's diagnosis with Parkinson's, a progressive and degenerative neurological disorder, in October 2023.
The couple reside in Sydney's coastal suburb of Coogee and share two sons: Liam, 23, and Jack, 21.
Since going public with her artist husband's condition, Keller has been candid about the emotional toll and the strength it takes to face it.
In a May 2024 interview with Stellar, she described Harley as "quite remarkable" but confessed it's been "hard to accept".
"Every time I talk about this, sometimes I'm fine and sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming," she said.
Appearing on ABC's The Assembly not long after, Keller became visibly emotional when asked by a young journalist if she still loved her husband.
"That question is beautiful," she replied.
"I think I'm going to cry because my husband is going through some stuff at the moment."
Looking back on more than three decades together, Keller said she's still "grateful" she and Harley are "in it together".
"I never think of the what-ifs because I think that's just where madness lies," she shared on the Jonesy and Amanda Show.
"But you do fluctuate between dealing with what's in front of you and having the absolute sh**s that you're dealing with what's in front of you.
"But as we've spoken about before, you scratch the surface (and) everyone is going through a story.
"And to think of the journey you embark on 35 years ago, that's a very long time.
"And we've lived a rich and wonderful life together, and we still do."
